Grafting - A Theory of Culture

  • The botanical principle of grafting applied to language, literature, architecture, art, cultural theory, and the history of knowledge.
  • It addresses a central question in philosophy of culture, cultural studies, and ecocriticism: How can we adequately describe our relationship with nature? To what extent is it justified to inflict violence on nature with our cultural interventions?

A grand new theory of culture – Grafting is a technique in land and horticulture that has been used since ancient times: Different plants are connected to one another to improve quality and yield. At the same time, the concept of grafting brings together central questions of cultural theory, such as the relationship between nature and culture, humans and the environment, humans and machines. Furthermore, grafting has also become a prominent metaphor in many other disciplines.

Cultural scholar Uwe Wirth brings together current discussions in cultural and media studies and shows that the principle of grafting is ubiquitous in both theory and practice.

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  • Publisher: S. FISCHER
  • Release: 29.10.2025
  • ISBN: 978-3-10-092249-6
  • 752 Pages
  • Author: Uwe Wirth
Grafting - A Theory of Culture
Uwe Wirth Grafting - A Theory of Culture
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Uwe Wirth

Prof. Dr. Uwe Wirth , born in 1963, has been Professor of Modern German Literature and Cultural Studies at Justus Liebig University in Giessen since 2007. He studied German language and literature, philosophy, and history in Heidelberg, Frankfurt, and Berkeley. His research focuses on cultural, sign, and media theory, as well as German literature around 1800. Since 2008, he has been project manager in the LOEWE focus area “Cultural Techniques and Their Medialization” in the subprojects “Practices of Searching and Finding” and “Multimedialization of the Chronicle of the Lodz/Litzmannstadt Ghetto.”